1. Field
The present disclosure relates to apparatuses, systems and/or methods relating to a device for operating a product, such as a car jack. For example, an apparatus within the scope of the invention may be a jack handle attachable to a car jack for raising or lowering the car jack. However, the concepts herein may be applicable to other handle apparatuses as well.
2. Description of the Related Art
Most vehicles produced nowadays include a jack to allow a driver or passenger to deal with situations such as a flat tire. Traditionally, the jack raises a portion of the vehicle off the ground to allow the driver or passenger to change the tire or to maneuver below the vehicle to look and/or perform other functions that may be difficult with the vehicle situated flat on the ground. However, operation of a car jack, such as a scissor jack among other types of jacks, might require additional components like a jack handle. In some situations, the jack handle and the car jack are not combined into one apparatus. By separating the jack handle and the car jack, certain advantages may be obtained. For example, storage of the jack handle and the car jack may be easier when separated. As such, different jack handles have been developed for operation with the car jack.
As is known in the art, jack handles may include a first arm to attach to the car jack, and a second arm attached to the first arm to form a L-shape, thereby providing an increase in the mechanical advantage provided to the user, and thus allowing the user to easily raise and/or lower the car jack (e.g., a scissor jack). However, current methods practiced to attach the first arm and the second arm are lacking.
One example of a currently known jack handle is a two-piece jack handle without an interlock. However, without care by the operator, the first arm and the second arm of the handle may become separated during use. Indeed, the driver or passenger may become frustrated if he or she has to continually re-attach the first arm and the second arm of the jack during a tire change operation. Accordingly, an interlock that reduces the likelihood of separation of the first arm and the second arm is desirable.
A second type of jack handle known in the art is one that incorporates a ball-snap or thumb-screw to attach a first arm to a second arm. However, the driver or passenger using this type of jack handle may be inconvenienced in a different fashion—namely that it is too difficult and time consuming to assemble and/or disassemble the jack handle. In addition, the manufacturing costs for jack handles of these types are increased because of the intricate nature of the ball-snap and/or the thumb-screw. For at least these reasons, even these more advanced types of jack handles are not optimal.
One piece jack handles that integrate the pivot arm and the rotation arm suffer from difficulty of storage especially since these jack handles may be large in size.
What is needed is a jack handle that may provide the passenger and/or driver with one or more advantages such as reliable attachment of the components of the jack handle without unduly increasing the difficulty in assembly, reduced manufacturing costs and easy storage.